Ambitious plans to convert an historic Kendal building into a food hall have been unveiled.

Owners of Lancaster-based Dam Good Coffee Shop plan to spend £250,000 on turning the Grade II listed former Provincial Insurance hall in the town into a food hall boasting a dozen street food vendors.

The husband and wife team behind Dam Good Coffee Shop Warren and Lesley Hartley plan to covert the prominent building attached to Sand Aire House at the corner of New Road and Stramongate into a 'DamGood Food Hall' accompanied by a coffee bar and micro pub, all with a 'stripped-back' design.

“I'm wanting to bring everything back to bare bricks and expose all the features of the building,” said Mr Hartley, 35, who grew up in Kendal.

“I want to keep it all industrial, let the building do the talking.”

The couple set up Dam Good Coffee Shop on Lancaster's Penny Street around two years ago. It has become well-known for its cannabidiol-infused varieties of coffee and cake, which it serves alongside plain varieties.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical compound derived from cannabis. It does not produce the psychoactive effects of THC, another cannabis compound, and CBD products can be sold legally in the UK.

According to Which? it is ‘anecdotally popular for conditions such as anxiety, chronic pain and insomnia’.

Mr Hartley said, prior to setting up the coffee shop in Lancaster, his wife had suffered problems with Fibromyalgia for a long time, with symptoms including back pain and fatigue.

“It's brought my wife out of misery so I want to spread the word and help other people do it," he said.

“It's giving people their lives back. The first couple of weeks we opened we had a couple of customers coming back saying 'I just wanted to nip in and say thank-you’.”

Mr Hartley also has plans for the micro pub to serve CBD-infused drinks, and Mr Hartley is hoping to have CBD products sold in the food hall.

The pair are currently readying an application to South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) and hope to have the hall opened in three to six months.

The plans will also breathe new life into an eye-catching building that has stood vacant for a long period time after earlier proposals for a bowling alley and leisure scheme did not proceed, despite having planning permission from SLDC.

The building hit the market in August last year through agents Peill & Co.

The property, which extends to just under 6,000 sq ft, already has planning permission for use as bar/restaurant or office/commercial space, and D2 planning permission which could include a gym, cinema, music venue or sporting use.